KARACHI : The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday told the Sindh High Court (SHC) that it is ready to hold an inquiry against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders Faryal Talpur and Sohail Anwar Siyal.
\nA two-member bench of SHC headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar was hearing the petitions seeking disqualifications of Talpur, Siyal and Manzoor Wassan among others for holding Iqamas (work permits) of certain countries and not disclosing them in their nomination papers.
\nDuring the hearing ECP\u2019s counsel Shamsul Islam submitted a reply and said, \u201cWe have filed our response and are ready to hold an inquiry against Talpur and Siyal.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the bench expressed disappointment at the ECP counsel\u2019s response and said, \u201cWe have seen your reply and it says nothing. What is in a one-page reply, we know what work you are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justice Ali further remarked, \u201cWe sought a detailed response and instead you submitted a one-page reply to simply fulfill your responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre such replies submitted in court?\u201d the bench further asked.<\/p>\n
The ECP\u2019s counsel then said that Talpur\u2019s lawyer, Farooq H Naik, failed to appear in court for the hearing once again and contented that his junior should take the case forward. However, the bench said, \u201cHow can the case move forward when the lawyer is not present? Ask Farooq Naik to appear for the next hearing or we will separate his case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advocate Shamsul Islam further said, \u201cTalpur did not mention her Iqama or assets in Dubai in her reply. Till a verdict is announced, she should be disqualified from holding public office.\u201d <\/p>\n
The petitioner had stated that Talpur established a company in her daughter Aisha\u2019s name in 2002 and hid the details from the ECP in her nomination papers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sindh Assembly member Siyal also submitted a reply in the court on Tuesday and said the petitioner is not a respondent and thus as per the Constitution he can only move the election tribunal. \u201cThe allegations leveled by the petitioner are false and baseless,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Further, Siyal said that he submitted all tax documents to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). \u201cI have shared all details in my income tax returns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no column to state whether I hold an Iqama in the declaration form,\u201d he further said in his reply.<\/p>\n
The petitioner had said that Talpur, Siyal and others were not Sadiq or Ameen as they had violated Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution by not disclosing details.<\/p>\n
The hearing of the petitions was adjourned till October 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI : The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday told the Sindh High Court (SHC) that it is ready to hold an inquiry against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders Faryal Talpur and Sohail Anwar Siyal. A two-member bench of SHC headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar was hearing the petitions seeking disqualifications of Talpur, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n